Azerbaijan and Armenian forces plunge into war with Russia and Turkey watching

Azerbaijani and Armenian forces engaged in fierce fighting when a decades-long conflict over disputed lands erupted into a new war involving tanks, artillery and aircraft.

Russia and international organizations such as NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) called on both sides to stop the fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. Turkey backed its ally Azerbaijan and said it was ready to offer help.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared martial law and ordered a general mobilization, after accusing Azerbaijan of “planned aggression”.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who also announced martial law, said in a speech on state television that Armenian forces were occupying the territory of Azerbaijan and that “we will put an end to this occupation.”

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Conflict has broken out repeatedly since Armenians took control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan in a war after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Hundreds of people died in 2016 before Russia put pressure on both sides to resume a ceasefire that it first negotiated in 1994. Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed again across their state border in July.

The confrontation has the potential to creep into Russia and Turkey, adding to geostrategic tensions between them over power conflicts in Syria and Libya. Russia has a mutual defense pact with Armenia and a military base in the republic, while Azerbaijan organized large-scale joint military exercises with Turkish forces last month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed “serious concern over the resumption of large-scale military conflict” and called for a cessation of hostilities in a phone call with Pashinyan, according to a Kremlin statement.

“Turkey supports its Azeri brothers with all its means,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter after speaking with Aliyev.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the fighting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Moscow Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Lavrov also spoke separately by phone with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, emphasizing the need for an immediate ceasefire, the ministry said.

A pipeline operated by BP runs within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the conflict zone and carries up to 1.2 million barrels a day from Baku to Ceyhan in Turkey. While it has not been a target in previous conflicts, the pipeline may be vulnerable to any change in the fighting between Armenian and Azeri forces.

Despite decades of mediation by the United States, France and Russia, the two sides have never signed a peace agreement. Armenia says the non-internationally recognized right to self-determination of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic must be respected, while Azerbaijan says its territorial integrity must be defended.

This time, Azerbaijan said it started a “counterattack” after accusing the Armenians of firing at their military positions and civilian settlements near Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia said Azerbaijan began shelling along the line of contact separating the two forces and shelled civilians, including the region’s capital, Stepanakert.

Armenia should “seriously discuss” the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh independence in response to the renewed conflict, Pashinyan told lawmakers in parliament.

While providing military and financial support to Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia has refrained from recognizing the independence of the territory throughout decades of OSCE-led talks to try to negotiate a solution to the conflict.

NATO ‘concerned’

The OSCE called for a ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said it was “deeply concerned” by the fighting in a statement.

Pope Francis also called on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the crisis “not through the use of force and arms, but through dialogue and negotiation” in a Vatican speech on Sunday (local time).

The Azeri army is using tanks, artillery, missile systems and aircraft against Armenian positions close to the front line and deeper in Armenian-controlled territory, the Defense Ministry in Baku said in a statement on the website. Up to 12 Armenian anti-aircraft systems have been destroyed and one Azeri helicopter was shot down, he said.

Armenian forces attacked four Azerbaijani helicopters, 10 tanks and some 15 drones, said Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan.

At least 16 Armenian servicemen have been killed and more than 100 injured in the fighting, Nagorno-Karabakh Deputy Defense Minister Artur Sargsyan said in a live broadcast.

The conflict comes after tensions between the two sides rose sharply last week, when Aliyev claimed that Armenia was concentrating forces near Nagorno-Karabakh for a new war. Armenia dismissed the claim as unfounded and accused Aliyev of preparing for war.

The struggle “is a war against our independence, freedom and dignity,” Pashinyan said in a televised address to the nation. “The Armenian people are ready for that war.”

The Azeri forces are “fighting on our soil and they have no right to no man’s land,” Aliyev said in his speech. “We will win because our cause is just.”